Manny Pacquiao said his fight with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios was like a “sparring” session for him last Saturday night. Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) felt that Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) wasn’t a tough fight for him. It wasn’t the toughest, but it was still a hard enough one for the judges to score it as a 12-round majority draw.
Pacquiao’s “Sparring” Claim
“Yeah, like sparring,” said Pacquiao to Fighthype, describing his fight with Barrios.
Pacquiao looked ridiculous making that comment, given his lumped-up, bruised face. If it were just a sparring-like fight, why was Manny’s face swollen and bruised? His eyes were heavily bruised. That’s why he was wearing sunglasses after the fight. That wasn’t for fashion reasons.
“It was hard for me to give Barrios rounds. Manny is a systematic fighter. He works, using jabs, 1-2s, and he’s always leading with a straight left,” said Shawn Porter to Sean Zittel, reacting to Pacquiao’s loss to Barrios.
Age took away the power that Pacquiao once had in his 20s and 30s. So, the shots that he landed last Saturday night didn’t have the same authority as the ones Barrios was hitting him with.
“I don’t feel that Barrios took control to take charge at any point. If you had a meter, it was swaying Manny’s way the whole way. I think it was bad judging. Incompetence, as usual, I think. There’s a lot in this game that I don’t agree with, and this just adds to my fire,” said Porter.
Barrios Secures Draw: Scoring Analysis
It looks like Shawn is upset that his boy, Pacquiao, didn’t get the win. Barrios did do enough to win six rounds by out-punching him. His more numerous punches were enough for him to get the draw. Pacquiao was leaving himself open frequently with his reckless fighting style, and Barrios took advantage of that to impress the judges with head-snapping shots.
“There’s no logic,” said Porter, when asked what logic there is not to give Pacquiao the win. “I don’t trust judges.”
If a person wasn’t pulling for Pacquiao to win from the get-go, you can count six rounds in which Barrios won. That’s why he got a draw. The judges weren’t biased and didn’t have a dog in the hunt. They scored the fight the way it played out. It’s the fans that were pulling for Manny to win who are upset, and Porter, his old sparring partner, was one of them.
“I saw more than I thought he had,” said Porter about Barrios’ skills. “When you talk about limitations, I don’t think he was at his limit. I thought there was more Barrios could have done. No body work.”
Barrios’ Strategy: Holding Back?
It looked like Barrios intentionally stayed in first gear through the first nine rounds. When he finally did start letting his hands go in the tenth, he dominated Pacquiao, making him look all of his age.
If he had fought like that earlier, it would have been a one-sided fight. Pacquiao didn’t look great because of anything he was doing. It was because Barrios held back until the championship rounds.
